NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English: Ch 10 Ozymandias

2. Write a letter to your friend about the sight you saw and your impression of it.AnswerDear Friend,
Hey, I am writing to you to describe something quite interesting. The other day I was going through ‘Literature Reader’ where I saw a picture of a sculpture of two legs and a beheaded face lying on the floor in the desert. The impression of the same, on me, was very horrifying because it seemed to talk of a very powerful ruler who was no longer alive. Who might have guessed that years after his death…
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4. Answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

(a) The poem is set in ____________________________________________i. the wildernessii. an ancient landiii. a palaceiv. a desertAnsweriv. a desert

(b) The expression on the face of the statue is one of ____________________i. admirationii. angeriii. despairiv. contempt

(d) The sculptor was able to understand Ozymandias’ ___________________i. wordsii. expressioniii. feelingsiv. ambition

Answerii. expression

(e) The tone of the poem is ________________________________________i. mockingii. nostalgiciii. gloomyiv. gloating

Answeriv. gloating

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5. Answer the following questions briefly.

(a)”The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.” Whose hand and heart has the poet referred to in this line?

AnswerThe hand is the sculptor’s hand who made the statue and the heart of the King Ozymandias which fed on the passions of his people.

(b) “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:” Why does Ozymandias refer to himself as King of Kings? What quality of the king is revealed through this statement.

AnswerOzymandias is the mighty king who has defeated almost all the kings and their empires around him. He is proud of his glory and power. So, he calls himself ‘King of Kings’. This statement shows that the king must be very proud of his achievements. He is a real snob.

(c) “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Who is Ozymandias referring to when he speaks of ye Mighty? Why should they despair?

AnswerOzymandias refers to all the other rulers to come after his reign. They should despair, because according to him, they can’t surpass his glory and power.

(d) Bring out the irony in the poem.

AnswerOzymandias was very powerful ruler. No ruler in that time withstand against him. He was all high and mighty king. But now, his statue is present in broken pieces and has mixed with the dust and sand. Here is irony.

(e) ‘Nothing beside remains.’ What does the narrator mean when he says these words?

AnswerWhen the narrator says these words, he emphasises on the fact that human life is time bound. The power and popularity of the ruler descended with the descent of the ruler. Nothing is immortal and immutable in this world.

(f) What is your impression of Ozymandias as a king?

Answer

Ozymandias was a great powerful king as he had defeated almost every king in his empire. His achievements could be seen throughout the empire. But his boastful nature, his arrogance, and his nature of showing others down make him a weak person.

(g) What message is conveyed through this poem?

AnswerThrough this poem a very important message is conveyed that time is all powerful. No king or his power can defeat time. All the achievement, in the end, leads to grave as nothing lives in the world forever. So, the pride and the showcase of power are useless. The greatness of a man is known by his good deeds.

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6. Identify and rewrite the lines from the poem spoken by the narrator, the traveler and Ozymandias:The Narrator: ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

Ozymandias: ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________AnswerThe Narrator: The narrator starts the poem with the introduction as to how the traveller had narrated his trip to the ancient land.

The Traveler: Two huge yet without the upper part of the body sculptures stood in the desert. Near them lay a shattered face, which had a frown and a wrinkled expression on his face. The face also held a hostile expression of cold command. The expression could be read very well on these lifeless things because of the sculptor’s artistry. On the pedestal appeared the words of the king himself. It read that his name was Ozymandias, king of kings, who commanded the forthcoming rulers to look up to him, and be saddened by the fact that they can never beat the glory he had achieved.

Ozymandias: I am Ozymandias, king of all kings: look upon my work and be despaired by my might, which you can never surpass.

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8. Complete the table listing the poetic devices used by Shelley in Ozymandias.

Poetic Device

Lines from the poem

Alliteration

…and sneer of cold command

Synecdoche (substitution of a part to stand for the whole, or the whole to

stand for a part)

the hand that mock’d them

Answer

Poetic Device

Lines from the poem

Alliteration

…and sneer of cold command

Synecdoche (substitution of a part to stand for the whole, or the whole to

stand for a part)

the hand that mock’d them

Repitition

King of Kings

Personification

the hand that mocked them

9. Imagine that Ozymandias comes back to life and as he sees the condition of his statue, realisation dawns on him and he pens his thoughts in a diary. As Ozymandias, make this diary entry in about 150 words. You could begin like this: I thought I was the mightiest of all but…

Answer

Dear Diary,

Traversing over the desert, I was dumbfounded with great shock when I discovered that my statue was lying broken, without head and body, in an eroded state. Imagine my reaction. I had considered myself above all, I was the greatest, the mightiest, and I believed that the coming generations would worship or pay respect to my statue. The condition of my statue pained me. All my achievements, my confidence in my power was razed to the ground. There were sands and loneliness around. No one seemed to remember my greatness. May be I was wrong. I should have devoted my life to the welfare, looked after my people with compassion and care, maybe then the fate of my statue would have been different.

Ozymandias.

10. ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments’ are on Time. Compare the two sonnets in terms of the way in which Time is treated by the poets. Write your answer in about 150 words.

Answer

In both the sonnets, ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘Not Marble Not the Gilded Monuments’ time is presented in different way by the poets. In ‘Ozymandias’, Percy Byshhe Shelley presents time more powerful than the most of the powerful king. On the other hand, in ‘Not Marble Not the Gilded Monuments’, Shakespeare present time as powerful but not as powerful and long lasting as his words for his friends. In ‘Ozymandias’ it is seen that even a great king is forgotten in the course of time if his deeds are bad. But if you love someone more than anything else in the world, as mention in ‘Not Marble Not the Gilded Monuments’, your love for that person lives forever. In such case, one doesn’t need to make a statue to make the memory live forever. Time can be won only by love not by hate.